Following its crushingly triumphant debut maiden occurrence last year, the second Tucson, Arizona-based Southwest Terror Fest 2013: Year Of The Snake has been confirmed and the full lineup for the massive gala announced.

The complete lineup can be found below, and the following press release was issued about the festival:

"This fully DIY undertaking, booked by musicians, for musicians, is a low-cost event for all ages. Once again organized and hosted by Tucson sludgetroopers Godhunter, the now annual Southwest Terror Fest brings a one-of-a-kind extreme underground music festival to the Southwestern quadrant of America.

"This year, the experience has been expanded into an immense four-day event, now confirmed to invade Tucson venue The Rock from Thursday, October, 10th through Sunday, October 13th. The Southwest Terror Fest 2013: Year Of The Snake lineup features even more national headlining acts than last year, including legends like Sacred Reich and Vehemence, along with Kylesa, Red Fang, Demon Lung, Ancestors, Subrosa, Landmine Marathon, Early Graves and others, and a long line of newer underground acts, totaling more than sixty bands! Whether you like punk, sludge, black metal, thrash, grindcore, post-metal, etc., something for all fans of extreme music is to be found at this event."

The Barge To Hell is just days away from departure and final band announcements are being made. The cruise sets sail Monday, December 3rd, 2012 from Miami, FL to Nassau, Bahamas and returns on Friday, December 7th, 2012.

Just announced are Novembers Doom, Vital Remains, Brujeria and underground acts Abiotic, Zanthropya Ex, and Dark Sermon. The organizers also report that both the German and Canadian incarnations of Necronomicon will be in attendance.

With the announcement comes some bad news that Six Feet Under has had to cancel their appearance due to a scheduling conflict with their studio and needing to have their new album delivered in time.

Departing in less than a month, two more bands have been announced for the Barge to Hell: Grave and Bonded By Blood. The Barge to Hell sets sail Monday, December 3rd, 2012 from Miami, FL to Nassau, Bahamas and returns on Friday, December 7th, 2012.

With a month before boarding the Barge to Hell left, the organizers have announced two more bands: metal supergroup Lock Up, featuring Nicholas Barker on drums (ex-Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir), Shane Embury on bass (Napalm Death), Anton Reisenegger on guitar (Criminal), and Tomas Lindberg on vocals (At The Gates, Disfear) and Nachtmystium.

Also announced was the cancellation of BELPHEGOR. Stated the organizers: "We tried our best to work something out, but regrettably must confirm that they won't be part of BARGE TO HELL. We will make sure that we have a suitable replacement."

The Barge to Hell sets sail Monday, December 3rd, 2012 from Miami, FL to Nassau, Bahamas and returns on Friday, December 7th, 2012.

The lineup is shaping up as follows, with a dozen more bands yet to be announced: More...

Metal Blade Records is excited to announce the latest addition to the label's 30th anniversary show line up: Sacred Reich. On November 30th, at the House of Blues in Hollywood, CA, thrash legends Sacred Reich will perform a short set in between Gypsyhawk and Armored Saint.

The set will serve as a brief preview of the full show Sacred Reich has recently announced for February 23rd, at the Key Club in Hollywood, which will be the band's first full show in Los Angeles in over 16 years.

Sacred Reich vocalist/bassist Phil Rind comments: "We are excited to be involved in Metal Blade's 30th Anniversary Celebration. Metal Blade were the first to offer us an opportunity on Metal Massacre 8, which led to a record deal and the release of 'Ignorance' and 'Surf Nicaragua.' Three of the best records ever Slayer's 'Hell Awaits,' DRI's 'Dealing With It' and COC's 'Animosity' were all on Metal Blade. Brian Slagel was and still is a huge fan and advocate for metal! We are looking forward to saying thank you to Brian and everyone at Metal Blade in the best way possible, loud and fast!"

Additional special guests confirmed for the show include Amon's Amarth's Johan Hegg, Ray Alder of Fates Warning/Redemption, as well as dUg Pinnick of King's X. The guest musicians will join Armored Saint on stage throughout the band's set to perform a variety of cover songs. That Metal Show's Eddie Trunk and Don Jamieson are confirmed to host the event. Tickets are on sale right here. More...

Phoenix, AZ's Sacred Reich reunited for several Europeans festivals in 2007, and one of those festival appearances happened to be at Germany's Wacken Open Air. The show was captured in a multi-camera shoot, with the final product finally being made available to purchase as a limited CD/DVD, simply titled "Live At Wacken," on November 20th, 2012.

"Live At Wacken" boasts a track listing which features twelve of the band's most popular cuts from throughout its career, which began in 1985. Tracks include: "The American Way," "Ignorance," a cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," and of course, "Surf Nicaragua." The DVD also includes interview footage, as well as other bits of never before seen behind-the-scenes footage.

The video for "Surf Nicaragua" from "Live At Wacken" can be viewed below. Pre-orders are also available in both physical and digital formats right here. The band has also announced a show in Hollywood for the first time in 16 years. Sacred Reich can be seen live at the Key Club in Hollywood, CA on February 23rd, 2013. More...

Barge To Hell is a five-day cruise from the organizers of the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. It departs from Miami, Florida on Monday, December 3rd and stops at Nassau, Bahamas before returning to Miami on Friday, December 7th. Booking for the cruise has opened to the general public, so book yours today.

The full Barge To Hell lineup so far is as follows, with many more bands to be announced: More...

The organizers of the Barge to Hell have issued the following announcement about confirming Holy Moses as the latest act to play the cruise:

"Who better to lead them on their journey to the undead than the mighty Holy Moses celebrating their 30th anniversary? Not once, because as you know, they do everything twice. You heard right, twice! Here is how it goes: On December 3rd, 40 of the most extreme Metal Bands and 2,000 headbangers from around the world will go to the Caribbean to take over a luxury cruise ship for a 5 day and 4 night trip to the undead! For the entire trip it's like everyone has a backstage pass and you can mingle side-by-side with the Artists in this incredibly fan-friendly scenario that has no comparison. See each of the 40 bands play two live shows on two different days. That's 80 shows with unrestricted festival access to the three stages, each with it's own unique atmosphere:

"The luxurious 'A Chorus Line' theater where they spare no expense to have the benches removed on the floor. Because at a Metal show, who actually wants assigned seating in front of the stage?

"The cozy 'Spectrum' that gives you the real club feeling.

"And their jewel: The open air stage on the pool deck. The biggest festival stage to sail the Oceans.

"You can also get all your memorabilia signed at the Meet & Greet sessions. Be part of their infamous Metal Karaoke and many other special activities with the Artists. And last, but not least: Don't forget that they have bars on board that never close! What are you waiting for? You might even need a vacation from this vacation when all is said and done."

With time running out for booking with promo codes for those who pre-registered, the organizers of Barge To Hell have announced more bands for the extreme metal cruise lineup, ahead of general public ticket sales opening this Friday, April 27, 2012 at 12PM EST.

At The Gates, Belphegor, Kampfar, Soilwork and Solstafir have been added to the lineup, which takes the list of known bands to 21 out of the final 40.

Barge To Hell, from the organizers of the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, will set sail on December 3, 2012 from Miami, cruise to Nassau in the Bahamas, and return to Miami on December 7.

Metal Underground.com contributor Goatlady was on board 70,000 Tons of Metal in January 2012, and reported on the action here:

American nu metal veterans Limp Bizkit have been confirmed as the final headliner for this year's edition of Belgiums largest heavy metal festival, Graspop Metal Meeting. Also newly confirmed for the festival are Behemoth, Black Label Society, Godsmack, Slash and All Shall Perish, while the organisers have also announced that Young Guns and Lagwagon have pulled out of the event. Graspop Metal Meeting will take place in Dessel, Belgium from June 22nd - 24th and will feature the following lineup, with more to be announced shortly:

The organisers of Belgiums largest heavy metal festival, Graspop Metal Meeting, have confirmed a further nine names for this years edition of the event, including French death metal outfit Gojira, English doom metal veterans My Dying Bride and American hard rock legends Twisted Sister, as well as I Killed The Prom Queen, Cancer Bats, Lagwagon, While She Sleeps, Black Spiders and Kobra And The Lotus. Graspop Metal Meeting will take place in Dessel, Belgium from June 22nd - 24th and will feature the following lineup, with more to be announced shortly: More...

The organisers of Belgium's largest heavy metal festival, Graspop Metal Meeting, have announced that American rock legends Guns N Roses will be wrapping the festival up this year, as they will be headlining the event on Sunday 24th. The organisers have also announced that As I Lay Dying has had to pull out of the festival after cancelling their European tour, but also confirmed that Cannibal Corpse, Machine Head, Gotthard, Adrenaline Mob, Sebastian Bach, Black Veil Brides and The Treatment will perform at the festival. Graspop Metal Meeting will take place in Dessel, Belgium from June 22nd - 24th and will feature the following lineup, with more to be announced shortly:

The organisers of Belgium's largest heavy metal festival, Graspop Metal Meeting, has announced a further five bands for this year's edition of the event. American thrash metal legends Megadeth will be performing, as will stoner rock kings Kyuss Lives!, death metal pioneers Possessed, English alternative rock outfit Young Guns and, making their fourth appearance at the festival, Jon Olivia's Pain. Graspop will take place in the town of Dessel from June 22nd-24th and now features the following lineup:

The organisers of Belgiums largest heavy metal festival, Graspop Metal Meeting, has announced a further five bands for next years edition of the event. These include Connecticut natives Hatebreed, metalcore outfit Killswitch Engage, Bay Area thrash metal legends Exodus, Scottish pirate metal group Alestorm and American heavy metal outfit Devildriver. The festival will take place from June 22nd - 24th in Dessel, Belgium and now features the following lineup, with more to be announced soon: More...

The organizers of Belgium's Graspop Metal Meeting festival have begun announcing the first batch of names for next years edition of the event, in addition to the previously confirmed headliners, Black Sabbath.

The thrash metal movement in the eighties saw bands all over the world adopt the new approach to heavy metal, and the United States were arguably the champions of the genre. Although it was California and New York that were credited with some of the biggest and best names in thrash, other states produced some of the heaviest hitters of the bunch. A great example of this, would be the state of Arizona, which produced the politically minded Sacred Reich. The band formed in 1985 by vocalist and bass player Phil Rind and signed to Metal Blade Records, one of the biggest labels for thrash metal at the time, soon after. They released their first album, "Ignorance" in 1987 and was extremely well received by thrash fans all across the globe. An EP entitled, "Surf Nicaragua" followed the next year and featured a cover of the Black Sabbath classic, "War Pigs," as well as a passage from the song "Wipe Out" in the EP's title track.

After another EP, this one recorded live at the Dynamo festival in the Netherlands, Sacred Reich released a second album named, "The American Way" in 1990. The album saw a departure somewhat from their thrash metal sound, without discarding it completely and once again, was loved by fans and critics alike. Their next album, "Independent" did not find as much favour as their first two releases, but contained some stellar material, such as the title track. This album would also introduce drummer Dave McClain, who later went on to join Machine Head. Three years later, Sacred Reich released their fourth, and to date final studio album, "Heal," which regained the critical praise that "Independent" did not receive. After an absence of six years, the band's original drummer Greg Hall rejoined the group and they subsequently released a live record entitled, "Still Ignorant" in 1997. Sadly, this would prove to be the final release from Sacred Reich, as they decided to call it a day in 2000.

In 2007, the band decided to reform with the lineup of Phil Rind, Greg Hall and guitarists Wiley Arnett and Jason Rainey, peforming live around the world, most noticably at European festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Graspop Metal Meeting. Although the band has showed no sign in ending these performances any time soon, Rind has repeatedly stated that the band will not record another studio album. More...